That terrible day comes each year and buck season is finally over. You feel like it’s the end of the world. What are you supposed to hunt now? Let me give you a hint, do you ever wonder where your gut piles go after a couple of hours or by the next morning? That would be a coyote or fox most likely eating up those remains which are pretty weary animals but are becoming more abundant in numbers throughout the United States. But today I’m going talk just about the coyotes and how to hunt them.

First off- you have to know what you’re hunting and how they think. Coyotes are a wolf like animal but much smaller and can weigh up to fifty pounds. Coyotes tend to run in packs but you can also find a lone coyote once in a while. There is a need to hunt these predators because they are becoming a problem animal in urban areas as they are pushed out of their natural habitat. They are known to hunt and kill livestock and even kill domestic pets. That will make you think twice about just letting your dog out and thinking nothing of it. But they are also scavengers and once a scent is in the air of something dead or they hear a distress call of a struggling animal you can bet that there will be coyotes there in minutes if there is one in the area.

You can pretty much hunt this animal in any type of terrain such as dense woods, grasslands and prairies. My weapon of choice when hunting these animals is my AR, which is 223 caliber rifle the perfect round for this predator. I preferably like to hunt coyotes during the late afternoon when it’s about to start getting dark. I do this because they have exceptional vision and hearing so I like having the upper hand and bring a spotlight! You’re going to want to have where you’re going to hunt already scouted and known. Be sure to be extremely quite getting to your spot. Once you’re all setup get your call going. I use an electric distress call which will allow you to focus on spotting the coyotes. Once all this is happening, start glassing and spotting a coyote before they spot you, and aim for the top front shoulder so you can drop them where they stand.

There is nothing like the feeling you get when you finally get that perfect kill shot on the animal you have been hunting. For myself, preferably a monster whitetail, and it just drops where it stands. But when it doesn’t go that way and the deer bolts, make sure you keep an eye on it for as long as you can and get a general location on where it may lay. I usually wait 15-30 minutes to retrieve my kill. The purpose for this is to make sure that the animal is dead when you approach it. It’s not fun being kicked, attacked or the animal possibly bolting again. So when you approach it, poke the animal once and if it doesn’t move, then you’re good to go.

Now after you get done admiring the animal and taking your selfies with it, if you’re like me you begin to realize this is nowhere near over. First off, you have to call in what you killed to your county/ state and get a tag number for the animal harvested. Tagging what you harvested helps the wildlife management agencies obtain information about how many tags are filled in combination with their assessment of the local animal populations to determine how many tags can be sold in the next hunting season. This ensures a limited number of animals killed next year so it will help preserve the species as a resource and keep ecosystem/ environment in balance.

Now when you have all that done you can start the fun stuff meaning gutting the animal. I’m not going to go in great detail because that might be a little gross so I’ll go over the basics. First you’re going to want to turn the animal over on its back to make the initial incision. I start from the crotch lift the skin and put the blade under the skin so it does not touch any of the organs or the gut bag. Then take the blade and cut all the way up to the sternum. If you just stick your knife in carelessly you’re very likely going to puncture the gut bag and trust me when you do that you will know because it stinks like no other. But once you have it open put your hands in the sternum cut out the heart, lungs and major organs. The next step is to start cutting the membrane that connects to the spine all the way down to the crotch. At this point you grab the guts and they should just spill out. Proceed to cut the pelvic bone and pull the colon out, once all this is done move the animal away from the gut pile and flip it over to let all the blood drain. Also don’t forget to collect any organs you want to eat or cook up for the dogs if not just leave them with the guts for the coyotes.

I hope you found this post informative and gave you some insight on what to do after a kill.

While my last post dealt with where some of the best hunting can be done in the United States, this post will talk about where to do some of the best hunting in the world. By hunting around the world, you can have access to hunt many species that are only native to a specific country. The only problem with trying to hunt around the world is it can become quite expensive so have your wallet handy.

I will first talk about what is near us and that is Canada. Canada is best known for their ducks and bucks this is because the Canadian sky is full of geese and ducks! The best time to hunt these geese and ducks is when they are migrating down from the arctic in September and early October. There is also world class mule deer and whitetail deer that hangout in the plains. These aren’t the only game Canada has to offer; they also have wolves, moose, black bear and many other waterfowl.

The best place hands down in the world for bird hunting is Argentina. Cordoba, Argentina is home to an estimated fifty million doves and where the season for doves runs year long, there’s nothing stopping you from going after these birds. Birds aren’t the only thing in this great country there is also puma, stag, capybara, and even water buffalo!

The best place in the world for a safari and to hunt many animals is Africa. If you ever have the chance to hunt in Africa you will have access to hunt the most diverse kinds of animal. From crocodiles to the king of the jungle the lion! Hunting an Africa will always leave you with the thought of am I the hunter or the hunted? Much of the game you hunt here are predators and you are at the bottom of the food chain.

Now if it’s a monster rack you seek and by this I mean hunting the king of all deer, you have to go to New Zealand. Only here will you find the best world class red stag. The prime hunting time for this animal is in the rut which falls between March and May. New Zealand also offers other animals with racks such as fallow, sika, sambar, rusa, and whitetail deer and many other antler or horned animals.

I hope you enjoyed this post and hopefully sparked your interests to hunt these amazing animals one day!

The United States has some of the best hunting available in the world. It has a variety from waterfowl, smaller game to big game hunting. Only problem is you have to travel to have access to some of these trophy hunts and some are so remote it’s only accessible by plane, boat or on foot.

By far I think the most exciting hunt to go on would be to go to Alaska to hunt the Kodiak islands. On Kodiak lives the biggest most dangerous game on United States soil, the Kodiak brown bear. These bears can get upwards and over 1500 pounds standing at about 10 feet tall. This predator is at the top of the food chain on this island and can only be found on this island. The only way possible to go and hunt this magnificent animal is through a lottery system where it is very unlikely to get chosen to go on this hunt. It is also one of the most challenging hunts on which to go because the island terrain is so harsh and always different wherever you go on the island. It is so strenuous on the body that you must train and workout to be ready for such a hunt.

Another awesome place to hunt is Montana. Montana is such a great place to hunt because it offers a huge variety of game. But I would say the best thing to hunt in this state is elk! Each year about 50 percent of the elks harvested for a given year come from Montana. Which means there’s an abundance and healthy population of elk.

If its moose you’re after then you are going to want to head to Maine. Maine moose is considered to be Canadian moose which might help with why Maine has the biggest population of moose in the lower 48. This hunt is also only accessible to hunters by a lottery system and if chosen then you can have the privilege of hunting a moose.

But if you are trying to switch it up from whitetail then go for a mule deer. But again you will have to be entered into a lottery system to hunt this animal. The best places to hunt a mule deer is out west in Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Arizona. Arizona is definitely the place to try and get the tag because the myth is the giants live there.

Choosing a rifle or a weapon of choice can depend on many different factors.

Your preference first off.

How you think the most effective way kill that animal or the most clean/humane way.

It will also depend on what day it is in the hunting season and what is permissible to hunt with. Before rifle season occurs there’s a bow and muzzle loader season. This is good because it gives people a chance to use other hunting methods before the long range rifles are in season. But once rifle season starts it’s basically open season and you are permitted to use any weapon of choice such as a bow, crossbow, muzzle loader or a rifle.

But first I’m just going to talk about finding the right rifle to use for different game and terrain. For deer hunting, the best American deer rifle/ caliber is the 30-30 Winchester. It was developed in the 1890s by Winchester and has been used for hunting deer for over a century. At ranges of 150 yards or less the 30-30 is one of the best. It’s a lever action rifle which is much quicker to reload then a bolt action which is great for taking a second shot if you miss the first time.

If you’re going for a little bit bigger game such as a bear, moose or elk you’re going to want something that packs more of a punch such as a .300 and up. You’re not going to want to be shooting one of these animals with a pee shooter because you’re going to end up pissing them off and putting yourself at risk for injury like getting mauled or killed. You want a caliber with stopping power that will drop a big animal instantly making it a very clean kill.

If you have some varmint hunting to do such as coyote, raccoon, ground hog, fox, hog or any critter giving you trouble use a 22, .17, or .223. But if it’s really pissing you off and you want to get rid of it, take out your AR-15 (.223.) with a full clip and light it up, you’re bound to nail him and end that problem. But that wouldn’t be safe so don’t do that! AR-15 (.223) is perfect for hog hunting and is what most hunters now use for feral hogs.

I hope you enjoyed this post and took something away from it on what to use while hunting.

Many people think deer season starts in the fall but if you’re a true deer hunter you know that it starts much earlier than that. The preparation for deer season starts in the late spring and early summer and it’s crucial to realize that and prepare. During the summer, deer are going to be feeding heavily preparing for when it starts to get cold and food becomes scarce.

In the late spring, start planting! It’s crucial if you want to be a successful hunter to start establishing food plots to get deer in the routine of coming and feeding in your plots. Maintaining these food plots during the summer and making sure that there is plenty of nutrients for the deer will ensure the bucks grow big antlers and are bigger giving you more meat for the freezer.

For the next step, you will want to start setting up trail cameras so you can keep tabs on those big bucks. By setting up cameras, you will be able to keep track of the deer movement and find out their tendencies and where they are throughout the day. You will also be able to pattern the doe. This is big because doe usually keep the same pattern throughout the season and during the rut. When you know where the doe will be during the rut, you will know a buck is not too far behind chasing the doe and you’ll hopefully be in the perfect position to kill that trophy buck. Also remember to maintain known travel paths of deer. If you do not do this and their path gets obstructed by a fallen tree or gets overgrown, this will cause deer to change their travel patterns.

After you finish putting your trail cameras up and clearing paths, wait a couple weeks and go over all the data you have collected. By then you will probably know the travel patterns of the deer. By knowing their travel patterns you will be able to strategically place your deer stands so you can have the optimal chance of bagging a nice deer. Also make sure you get out and practice shooting your gun, bow, muzzle loader in order to ensure it is properly sighted in so when that chance does present itself you can make a clean humane kill.

I hope you found some use or knowledge out of this post to know what goes into preparation for deer season and to help you better prepare for it!

I’m very excited to start my blog that strictly focuses on all aspects of hunting, from the preparation for the hunt to processing the deer after making the kill. I did not grow up hunting. I am the only one in my family that hunts and I started hunting my freshman year of high school. That being said, it’s never too late to learn to hunt or to learn any new hobby in life.

Hunting became my passion when I first moved to Virginia from Florida and saw a monster buck walking across our back yard. When I saw the buck, I had to have him on my wall. So that day with no hesitation, I signed up for a hunter’s education course. I was fortunate to have a close friend/mentor to teach me the bigger picture of hunting. In hunting, it’s not all about getting the biggest trophy buck that happens to be in the woods that day (all though it is great when that happens). It’s about observing nature at its finest, admiring all its aspects and recognizing the responsibility of a hunter. Hunting responsibly includes such things as knowing whether or not to pull the trigger, helping with the problem of over population and trying to use everything from your kill and not just kill for the fun of it. So after I did everything I needed to in order to acquire a hunting license, I went out in the woods! While on my way to the tree stand I came across about eleven deer, all of which were doe. I stopped dead in my tracks and I raised my rifle (Weatherby .308 – still my favorite deer rifle). But before I could get one in the cross hairs, they darted and were gone. I didn’t let that stop me so I continued and got up in the tree stand. An hour goes by and finally the buck I wanted appeared! I was so excited when I saw him I couldn’t stop shaking when I raised the gun and while looking through the cross hairs. The pure adrenaline and excitement had taken me over and when I pulled the trigger, I barely hit him. I shot the top of his spine due to shaking so much but was able to make the kill. After that rush of pure excitement and adrenaline, I knew then that this was my passion and still to this day, I get that same rush with every deer that comes into my cross hairs.

If you enjoyed my post, tune in next week because there is more to come!